Daily Archives: December 4, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the concluding news conference in Ankara. (RIA Novosti/Sergey Guneev)

So the EU “defeated” Putin by forcing him to cancel the South Stream pipeline. Thus ruled Western corporate media. Nonsense. Facts on the ground spell otherwise.

This “Pipelineistan” gambit will continue to send massive geopolitical shockwaves all across Eurasia for quite some time. In a nutshell, a few years ago Russia devised Nord Stream – fully operational – and South Stream – still a project – to bypass unreliable Ukraine as a gas transit nation. Now Russia devised a new deal with Turkey to bypass the “non-constructive” (Putin’s words) approach of the European Commission (EC).

Background is essential to understand the current game. Five years ago I was following in detail Pipelineistan’s ultimate opera – the war between rival pipelines South Stream and Nabucco. Nabucco eventually became road kill. South Stream may eventually resurrect, but only if the EC comes to its senses (don’t bet on it.)

The 3,600 kilometer long South Stream should be in place by 2016, branching out to Austria and the Balkans/Italy. Gazprom owns 50 percent of it – along with Italy’s ENI (20 percent), French EDF (15 percent) and German Wintershall, a subsidiary of BASF (15 percent). As it stands these European energy majors are not exactly beaming – to say the least. For months Gazprom and the EC were haggling about a solution. But in the end Brussels predictably succumbed to its own.

Beginning Wednesday, the pilot program will test different cameras on 60 officers from six precincts.

Engineers in the new Utah datacenter run by the National Security Agency have prepared special stream collection servers to provide realtime processing of the new videofeeds. Automatic numberplate and face recognition together with GPS data will be used to create data records for future analysis. “We are usually not allowed to collect or use such data of American persons,” a NSA spokesperson said. “But this is simply legal administrative assistance for the FBI and the local police,” the spokesperson added. “We are just a bit further along with this than they are.”

On the fly comparison of the video data with existing databases will allow to alert the policemen of searched-for automobiles. The cameras will also make make discrete noise should the officer approach persons who have their face-features stored in the national deviating person database. An additional feature utilizing Google glass and yet to be tested will provide the policemen with the name, date of birth and additional data like medical records of each person in their field of view.

Some of the video streams will be shared with the public. FOXNews signed a sponsoring contract with the NYPD that will allow it to exclusively use the streams. “Just imagine the possibilities,” Mr. V. O. Yeur, FOXnews vice president for business development, explained. “We will have the most goring night-programs from these feeds. Live and for nearly zero cost. Car accidents, marriage fights, murders each and every night – all without expansive additional equipment and personal in the street. The advertisers and shareholders will love this.”

Asked about possible problems with the anonymity of people not wanting to be recognized on camera V.O Yeur replied: “There is absolutely no problem with this. The viewers will never be able to see the recording policemen in those feeds and they will never learn their names. These exiting new programs will be broadcasted while offering the officers complete anonymity.”

Dejan “Deki” Beric is a Serbian volunteer fighter serving with the Novorussia Armed Forces in defense of the Donbass. In this interview with journalist Ivan Maksimovic, Beric, a sniper, explains his motivations and the political atmosphere in his homeland. For centuries now Serbs and Russians have fought alongside one another, and the journey of Beric and other Serbs can be viewed as a continuation of this fraternal bond. Translated by Mark Hackard.

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Why are you here in Novorussia? What was your motive in coming to the edge of the world, about which we knew almost nothing until recently, in order to risk your life? How and because of what?

I’ve told why I’m in Novorussia many times already. So I’ll be brief right now. I came to help our Orthodox brothers and fight against the NATO criminals who bombed our land, just as more than anyone they have saber-rattled and threatened to attack Crimea. I had forgotten then the fact that NATO and the countries supporting this organization are the usual cowards. They can enter a conflict only where there’s the possibility of bombing from afar, if possible against 90% civilian targets to sow fear and panic. So they haven’t directly participated, but their influence is clearly visible here. And so several American officers were wounded here. They weren’t in battle – they’re located a bit further from the frontline and explain how important it is to destroy civilian targets. I’ve heard this from more than one Ukrainian POW, with a multitude repeating the same words.

How do you see events today in the former Ukraine? If you had waited up to the present moment, would your decision today be the same as it was when you came to Novorussia?